presidential candidates who are vying for the GOP nomination to
run on its ticket. We shall examine each candidate, taking note of
their strengths and weaknesses, their best features and their
worst , the good things that each has to offer and the areas that
they need to work on. This series is meant as a guide to assisting
conservative voters in choosing the best conservative candidate
to send to face President Obama in next year's presidential
election. Although is important that we prevent Obama from
winning a second term in the White House, we must think in terms
of not only who has the best chance to defeat Obama but who can
repair our country's economy, regain the confidence of our allies
and the respect of the world, both friends and enemies alike,
and make a conservative template for governance which will be
grounded in the Constitution rather than based on the
whimsy of political leaders who think that they are smarter
than, and superior to, the people whom they are supposed to
serve. It is this kind of arrogance which has led to the problems
which we as a nation now face, combined with equally breath-
taking incompetence. Let us begin.
(Peasant's note)
HERMAN CAIN
Born on December 13, 1945, Herman Cain grew up in Atlanta,
Georgia. The Cain family was impoverished, but tenacious in
making sure that everyone was well provided for; his mother
worked as a domestic and his father held several jobs, including
being a chauffer for the executives of the Coca-Cola Co. Cain's
parents stressed the importance of education to a young Herman,
and the die for Herman Cain was cast.
Cain graduated from Morehouse College in 1967 with a bachelor's
degree in mathematics. He followed up with earning a master's
degree in computer science at Purdue University. While there,
Cain was employed by the U.S. Navy where he designed fire
control systems.
Next was a position as a systems analyst for Coca-Cola,
followed by joining Pillsbury in 1977. While with the food giant,
Cain climbed to the position of vice-president. Seeking new chal-
lenges, he went from information technologies to business
management by going to work at the firm's division at that time,
Burger King. Cain began by flipping burgers and over time
became a regional vice president for the fast-food chain.
In 1986, Herman Cain took on the posts of President/ CEO
of Godfather's Pizza, a company which was then in danger
of going broke and closing down. In just fourteen months,
Cain made the pizza-maker profitable and with other execu-
tives purchased the business from Pillsbury.
Herman Cain later became president of the National Restaurant
Association. In that post, he challenged President Bill Clinton
on health care during a televised event. Cain stated he thought
that Bill and Hillary's ideas for health care reform would have
an adverse effect on business. In 2004 Cain made his first run
for political office, running for a U.S. Senate seat from Georgia.
Although he lost, Cain confidently entered the race for the
2012 Republican presidential nomination. Between the two
campaigns, Cain served as a member of the Federal Reserve
Board. Thought to be a long shot for the GOP laurels, Cain
has recently advanced to pull neck-and-neck with ex-Gov.
Mitt Romney from Massachusetts for the front-runner's
spot. In August 2011, Herman Cain finished fourth in the
Iowa Straw Poll, eclipsing Romney and Texas Gov.
Rick Perry --- two better-known candidates. Cain went
on to win the Florida Straw Poll in the next month.
STRENGTHS: Herman Cain won over many people with
his straight-up, no nonsense appraoch to governmental reform.
Cain has crafted a plan for fair, flat taxes for individuals and
businesses which, while criticized by some for potentially
placing a greater tax burden on lower-income Americans,
has been the only solid plan offered up by any of the GOP
candidates to date; the rest of the field has only spoken
in general terms as to how they would deal with taxes.
On this subject, and others, Herman Cain has been
refreshingly candid and illuminating with the public,
something to be desired in many politicians in both
parties.
WEAKNESSES: Cain is rather skimpy in terms of foreign
policy know-how; he openly admitted that he could not
name the president of Uzbekistan and "knowing who is the
head of some of these small insignificant states around the
world" was not as important as paying attention to domestic
issues. We need a president who will be attentive to both
domestic and foreign policy matters, and will at least know
(or will be willing to learn) who is the head of state in the
countries with whom we must deal with, especially in
sensitive areas of the world where radical Islam is a
potential or actual threat.
Furthermore, at this time Herman Cain is embroiled in
a controversial series of accusations made against him
by female employees in a couple of businesses where
Cain had had powerful positions. Four women have
claimed that Cain had been "sexually inappropriate"
with them. Now, your faithful Peasant has provided
links to stories giving some elaboration on these
claims by these women, which date back as far as
the '90s. Soon, I shall make comment on these
accusations made against Herman Cain here on
this blog but I will say this for now: Based on
what I have come to discover about Herman
Cain and his character, as well as his close and
solid relationship with his wife of 43 years, and
what I know about the liberal establishment and
its abject fear of black conservatives (especially
when they dare to seek the presidency), along
with the dubious timing of these claims becoming
public, the whole affair smacks of the establishment's
attempt to derail the appointment of Justice Clarence
Thomas to the U.S. Supreme Court which, thank-
fully failed to deprive us of a thoughtful, fair-
minded conservative jurist ensuring that constitu-
tional standards are applied to all matters brought
before our highest court. The racism is once
again as ugly and repugnant as before, and sadly
it may prove that some in the Republican Party
may be behind the campaign to derail Herman Cain's
presidential campaign, joining with the Democrats.
Herman Cain also has an inexperienced campaign staff
that, while enthusiastic and energetic, have no ideas for
effectively countering the accusations made against their
candidate. Cain recently held a press conference to
deny the accusations and to state that he does not even
know one of the women accusing him. Some are saying
that it shouldn't have gotten to the point of Cain having
to hold that press conference; personally I don't know.
But if the Cain campaign continues to take more hits
like the ones it took so far, Herman Cain may well have
to leave the field of battle and limp home.
Let's hope that, for a number of reasons (some not
pertaining strictly to Herman Cain), this does not
become the case.
ANALYSIS: Herman Cain is a breath of fresh air,
being essentially a non-politician in his demeanor
and the presentation of his ideas. The "insider" smarty-
pants types in both parties have made mischief
at our expense for too long. But lacking foreign policy
knowledge is a minus, and lacking an experienced,
campaign-savvy staff is an even bigger minus, especially
in the face of a smear campaign of growing proportions.
Cain must offset both of these weak areas if he is to
be around for the Republican convention, let alone
win the party's presidential nomination. If he can do
these things, Cain will siphon off enough of the black
vote to topple Obama in November of next year.
The question remains, though: Can he overcome
these two glaring weaknesses? The coming weeks
will tell.
MEM
No comments:
Post a Comment